In an era of civilization that is dominated by technology, it is easy for people to lose themselves in its daily utilization. One way or another, technology has affected each of our lives. An essential factor driving this movement has been the internet; a commodity that has grown to be labeled both a gift, and a curse. In the case of scholarly usage, this is no anomaly. In recent years, students and educators alike have pondered the possibility of effectively using the internet, and its many perks to boost the educational experience. On the one hand, some argue that the benefits of using the internet for scholarship outweigh the costs. From this perspective, Kathleen Fitzpatrick in her article “Reading (and Writing) Online, Rather Than on the Decline,” claims that the internet is where the future of education lies. On the other hand, however, others argue that the internet has been corrupted to the point that using it for scholarly purposes would not be beneficial for anyone. In the words of Nicholas Carr, publisher of the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” and one of this views main proponents, “A style of reading promoted by the Net, a style that puts ‘efficiency’ and ‘immediacy’ above all else, may be weakening our capacity for the kind of deep reading that emerged when an earlier technology, the printing press, made long and complex works of art commonplace.” In sum, then, the issue is whether or not the internet can be of good use in the realm of education, and scholarship.
The issues surrounding using internet for schools range from the most elementary of concepts to the more difficult ethical quarries. On the simpler side, the internet is a place of distractions galore. In his article, Carr alludes to the fact that the simple nature of the internet is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation.” As an active user of the internet, I will be the first one to admit the worldwide web’s ability to suck the user into a vortex of catered to your liking. But as we all know, it is easier to focus on efficiently using devices for any task if there is a purpose behind it. On the more complex side of reasons against in this debate, is the issue of ownership. As much as we want to trust society, it would be foolish of students and educators to believe that stealing, and acts of plagiarism don’t occur quite often in the informational and scholarly sectors. This harsh truth brings a number of questions into the air surrounding this issue: Do you really have sole ownership of what you post to a domain, blog etc.? And is it a worthy use of student’s time to publish their work to an area where agency of their own work is a question?
On the other side of this argument are those who are willing and ready to usher in a new generation of technological and educational advancement, with whom my beliefs reside. The generational gravitation towards scholarship on the web is largely due to one simple fact: the traditional ways of doing everything on paper are getting boring. With the endless reach of possibility regarding the internet, new, more interactive and engaging ways to incorporate scholarship will be able to keep up with the forever updating image of today’s pop culture internet that commands young student’s attention outside of the classroom. As a matter of fact, it is Kathleen Fitzpatrick herself that argues that people haven’t stopped reading “civic literature” and other educational readings. They simply have turned away from paperback versions of these works, and found the online versions of these topics. Elaborating further upon the notion of the forever changing world with respect to technology, as the workforce evolves so must the students entering it. Working in creative ways with the internet while in school ensures that you don’t need to be a Computer Science major to be able to put “Technologically Savvy” on your resume.
The safety that comes with tradition is reassuring to many. And although I agree with Fitzpatrick and her beliefs about technology and scholarship’s coexistence, I can’t help but acknowledge the safety of this particular tradition. Albeit paper-and-pencil methods of teaching have succeeded in preparing scholars for the world they enter, but times are changing now, more so than ever before. It would be in the best interest of educators to realize that their methods of teaching should reflect that. However, an effort of this large a scale cannot be accomplished by just one party. All members, from teachers and professors, to students, and others who may play a key role (i.e. technological specialists in these academic institutions) must work in unison. It is not just up to the educators to come up with ways to use this resource creatively and effectively. But it’s also up to the students to engage, and fully by into this new method of learning. If we, as a society can guarantee this in a simple majority, then the future is looking bright for this dynamic tool’s use in the classroom.
Works Cited
-Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 13 June 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/.
-Fitzpatrick K. (2014) Reading (and Writing) Online, Rather than on the Decline. In: Segal N., Koleva D. (eds) From Literature to Cultural Literacy. Palgrave Macmillan, London
“On my honor I have neither given nor received unauthorized information regarding this work, I have followed and will continue to observe all regulations regarding it, and I am unaware of any violation of the Honor Code by others.”
-QJ
In this essay you’ve done a great job of summarizing all sides of the argument and connecting them to both society today and your own personal life. You were able to think of a lot of interesting aspects of the bigger discussion on online reading. Along those lines, something that would strengthen the assignment would be then connecting the arguments and evidence together into more of a “conversation” between all sides, rather than just a list of all the different problems and opinions. Something to think about while you edit could be how to make your writing sound as natural as possible. Like we’ve been talking about in class, it’s important that your voice is clear in your writing, as if it could be spoken naturally in conversation. Letting go of some of the wordy transitions and lengthy descriptions might help with that.
Strength: You use fantastic word choice. I really liked how you brought the issue of plagiarism into your argument. You incorporated the authors very well into the argument throughout the entire essay.
Something to work on: Sentence structure was a little bit confusing to me at certain points.
Something to think about: You have such great word choice, but going for the most extravagant description lessens the effect of that word choice. I would try to be simple with a majority of my sentences and save up the extravagant word choices for where they will have an impact.
I liked how you incorporated asking questions into your essay, it was very creative. I liked how you focused heavily on the educational side of the internet and how it is an important tool for learning. One recommendation I would make is to include the first sentence of the third paragraph, or a sentence similar to it, in your opening paragraph. I think that could more clearly explain the argument you are making earlier in the essay.